The use of kitchenware such as salad spinners, mixing bowls, slicers, towel holders, countertop corkscrews, child's bowls, graters, chopping boards, child's plates, and cutting boards frequently requires or makes it desirable to keep the tool or device firmly planted on a counter or work surface. The same is true of small appliances, tools, and a multitude of other devices.
For example, mixing bowls can be difficult to handle and may slide or spill contents if the ingredients being mixed are stiff or bulky or chunky, or if the user does not maintain a sufficient grip on the bowl. Small children often throw their dishes off the table or highchair tray. Graters can slip and slide when food items are being grated, especially if the food is hard or sticky. Chopping boards are also subject to movement and slippage when items are being cut, sliced, or chopped, again, especially if the items being cut, sliced, or chopped are difficult to grip or cut. Corkscrews, of course, can be difficult to control if the cork is hard, or the bottle is slippery; if a stand corkscrew is used, the stand can slip and slide on the counter. Towel holders, too, will slip or tip if a towel hangs up during the unrolling of the towels or if the towel is inadvertently pulled too hard or quickly or if an individual towel section is difficult to tear.
It is also useful and safer to be able to use two hands in the operation of kitchen implements and kitchenware. For example, it is at times safer to use both hands to mix food ingredients, especially when ingredients must be added while other ingredients are being mixed. The use of both hands avoids spills and uneven mixing. In the typical case, however, the use of both hands is difficult or impossible, because one hand must hold the mixing bowl, perhaps at an angle, while the other hand stirs, ultimately making it difficult to properly achieve the best or most efficient mixing of ingredients. The possibility of spill or accident with the mixing implements is also increased when one must mix and add or mix and hold all at the same time.
Similarly, it is difficult to feed a small child when one hand must be used to hold the dish on the counter or tray while the other assists in feeding and cleaning the child. And, of course, if the child forcefully moves the bowl, the feeder can lose control of both the food and the child in attempting to react to the movement and prevent the spill. The disadvantages of not being able to use both hands in cutting and chopping operations are apparent. If one applies one hand to the food being cut or chopped and the other hand is applied to the knife, the cutting board is susceptible to movement and slippage, which can cause a spill and allow the food or chopping board to fall on the person of the operator. Applying one hand to the cutting or chopping board and the other to the knife or other implement leaves the food itself free to move about and increases the risk that the user of the knife will inadvertently cause the knife to slip and cut the user.
The same sort of difficulties occur to one degree or another in the use of all types of kitchenware, including corkscrews, salad spinners, graters, and slicers. Specifically, it is very difficult to simultaneously control the kitchenware, the food (or bottle) being acted upon, and other implements that are being used in the mixing, opening, cutting, slicing, or grating process. There is also a problem in simultaneously adding ingredients, getting other implements that may be promptly needed, and protecting from spills, slippage, and other accidents.
Moreover, few items of kitchenware or kitchen implements have means to safely, securely, and easily secure them to a work surface, or secure them to different locations on the surface or counter to accommodate the nature of the operation, the availability of counter space, or the convenience of the user.
There have in the past been attempts to assist the user in connection with the difficult operations described above. In the case of mixing bowls, for example, Tardiff U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,452 shows gripping treads or lugs on the bottom of the bowl. Morris U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,634,617 and 5,813,638, show the use of a stand for the bowl. Lauer et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,688,485 shows a bowl tilted in a base. Tieffel et al. U.S. Pat. No. D364,546 shows a bowl stand with attachers at the top of the stand, and Heiberg et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,023 shows spaced ribs on the side of the bowl.
Individual suction cups have been placed on racks or the bottoms of some bowls or dishes to make them stick to a surface, see, e.g., Taylor U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,066 (suction cup attached to a holder fixedly attached to a tray) and Connery U.S. Pat. No. 6,484,989 (suction cups attached to a strip or rack in turn attached to a tray); however, such suction devices are difficult to install, must be applied with hand, pressure, and are subject to damage or deterioration when they are stored with other objects that can distort them and cause them to lose their ability to create a satisfactory partial vacuum. Many such suction devices also require some sort of permanent installation on the work surface, and many of them are very unattractive. Moreover, such suction devices are generally made specially to fit the size or intended location of the implements and are not generally easy to use with other kitchenware items.
As to other kitchenware and appliances, a variety of different suction device actuation arrangements have been used in the past. For, example, a rotating shaft with a bent or offset portion have been used in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,840,400, 2,089,714, 3,765,638, 4,934,641, and 6,386,494.
Threaded engagements for suction cups are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,871,113, 2,542,101, 2,940,713, 5,104,077, 5,381,990, 6,045,111, 6,193,197, 6,478,271, 813,265, 906,624, and 975,271, as well as in Japanese Patent No. 5,220,042. Twist cams, compression plungers, and cam levers on shafts are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,863,568, 5,087,005, 5,366,129, 5,395,159, 5,970,860, and 6,666,420.
Suction cups that are simply pressed onto a surface have been used in a host of devices as shown by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,022,412, 4,093,165, 4,987,827, 5,029,786, 5,076,527, 5,085,390, 5,186,559, 5,297,750, 5,474,206, 5,992,806, 6,405,973, 6,439,760, 6,443,388, 6,596,374, 6,619,604, and 6,739,061.
Additional suction cup activating devices include pins pulled outward activate a suction devices in U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,446; a rotating handle lifts central shaft in U.S. Pat. No. 2,871,053, and valves of various kinds in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,560,216, 4,756,497, and 6,776,368. Spring biased shafts are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,193,899, 3,747,170, and 5,065,973. Levers that provide leverage on a suction device are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,308,923 and 6,808,090. A hooked rod serves as an actuator connector in U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,007. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,871,053 a rotating handle lifts a central shaft.
Some of these devices are not particularly reliable in operation. Many are unsightly, and many are bulky, having a relatively high profile. Also, many of such devices do not have an easy, sure-handed way to engage the suction device that is not also unsightly or problematic in terms to a firm, secure attachment.
Most of these prior art devices have actuation structure that extends some distance above the suction pad such that they are not compact and are difficult to use with kitchenware or other devices, because the addition of the suction device to and item of kitchenware or some other device renders the implement quite tall and difficult to store or use conveniently in a smaller space. Such height also makes the kitchenware item or other device difficult for a user to operate, because it can place the operative parts too high for comfortable use on a work surface.
On the other hand, suction cups that are pressed onto a work surface, although permitting a lower profile, more compact kitchenware item or implement, are generally not as durable or reliable, can become deformed while being stored, and are frequently very difficult to remove from work surfaces, especially if they have some moisture or sticky substance under them or are pressed too firmly on the work surface.
There may be occasions when a cook or user does not wish to use the suction device, wishes to have it disconnected from an item of kitchenware, or wishes to store the suction device separately from the kitchenware item or implement. On yet other occasions, the user may wish to have the suction device permanently attached to the kitchenware item at hand. Similarly, it is an advantage to have a suction unit that can be easily adapted to be used with or attached to types of kitchenware in addition to those described above.
Indeed, it would be useful to have a reliable suction device that could be easily connected to items other than kitchen items, such as radios, CD and DVD players, trays for medical use, boat accessories, tools and equipment for use out of doors, lamps, and a multitude of other items. In each case the suction device would provide an effective means to secure the object or implement to a surface and eliminate the need for a user to devote the use of a hand to secure and maintain the item securely in place while other operations are being performed. The suction device can also be used to anchor tools, appliances, and other devices to mirrors, workshop benches or tables, boats, carts, automobiles, pickups, airplanes, campers, and other locations where it is desirable to secure items against movement.
Yet another issue is that kitchenware items have not been provided with attractive and easily operable suction devices that can be optionally removed from the kitchenware item, quickly and securely attached to a work surface, or easily moved to another location and secured again to a surface. Present suction devices are also frequently attached to devices in such a manner that the items cannot be used without the suction device or cannot be stored separately from the kitchenware item. Detachment of suction devices can be difficult or require the use of tools such as screwdrivers, wrenches or pliers.
As noted above, many suction devices, especially those with an exposed suction cup or multiple exposed suction cups, are also very unattractive and do not blend in well with kitchen decor or other kitchenware items.